ANGEL BLUE AND RACHMANINOFF 2
SAT , MAR 25 , 8 PM
OKSANA LYNIV , CONDUCTOR ANGEL BLUE , SOPRANO
JANÁČEK ( arr . Talich , rev . Smetáček ): Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen BARBER Knoxville : Summer of 1915 TERRENCE BLANCHARD Selections from Fire Shut Up In My Bones RACHMANINOFF Symphony No . 2
Fresh off her role in the celebrated Metropolitan Opera production of Terrence Blanchard ’ s Fire Shut Up in My Bones , the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra welcomes Angel Blue , one of the opera ’ s stars who “ soared impressively ” ( The New Yorker ), “ bringing her luminous soprano voice and unforced charisma ” ( The New York Times ). Barber ’ s Knoxville and Rachmaninoff ’ s Second Symphony bask in the beautiful , bittersweet glow of nostalgia , while Janáček ’ s The Cunning Little Vixen shines in all its fantastical glory under the baton of the accomplished opera conductor Oksana Lyniv .
THE PATHÉTIQUE SYMPHONY
SAT , MAY 20 , 8 PM
JONATHON HEYWARD , CONDUCTOR XAVIER FOLEY , DOUBLE BASS
GRACE-EVANGELINE MASON The Imagined Forest XAVIER FOLEY Double Bass Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No . 6 , “ Pathétique ”
Make room for a new generation of powerhouse artists when the “ ferociously committed and incisive ” Jonathon Heyward ( The Guardian ) conducts scores by two rising stars in their twenties . The British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason takes us on an ethereal adventure , and the American virtuoso Xavier Foley uses every measure of his creativity and charisma to make the overlooked double bass a conduit for joy and justice . Tchaikovsky ’ s passionate Symphony No . 6 closes the program .
TO AWAKEN THE SLEEPER
SAT , JUN 17 , 8 PM
JAMES CONLON , CONDUCTOR RODRICK DIXON , NARRATOR
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed ALVIN SINGLETON 56 Blows JOEL THOMPSON To Awaken the Sleeper ( BSO Co-Commission ) SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No . 10
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra revisits Adolphus Hailstork ’ s reverent memorial to Martin Luther King Jr . ( a work it premiered in 1980 ), and it touches the visceral hurt in Alvin Singleton ’ s 1994 reaction to police brutality . Joel Thompson , a young composer who is revolutionizing concert music with his deeply moving stands on race and justice , adds a gripping meditation on the words of James Baldwin . Artistic Advisor James Conlon concludes with a fresh look at the self-reflective symphony Shostakovich wrote in the aftermath of Stalin ’ s reign of terror .
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